Le Basketbawl

You know that old expression “He doesn’t know when to leave things  well enough alone?” Well apparently Los Angeles Lakers star Kobe Bryant either has never heard the saying or decided to ignore it!  This should be the best off-season of Kobe’s NBA career after winning the NBA Title last month. He had restored his reputation on and off the court and everything should have been peaches and cream for him all Summer long.

But I guess that New York Vinnie lives in “Fairy-Tale Land” because that just is not the way that life is any longer in 2009.  Unfortunately you don’t see a  lot of gracious winners these days as so many players just can not handle success. And unfortunately when the Lakers star had a chance to rise above the fray he took a cheap shot!

Unless you have been on a crack-binge the last couple of weeks you are well aware of the controversy that took place at the Nike camp for Cleveland Cavaliers All-Star LeBron James. A player from Xavier University Jordan Crawford reportedly dunked twice  on James. There supposedly is video of the incident but reports are that Nike took the tapes and held onto them. To New York Vinnie this is a non-incident and has chosen to leave it alone. This column is not about that.

No this column is about Kobe Bryant going for a cheap laugh in front of a bunch of children. If you look below this article you will see a video that kind of reminds New York Vinnie of that old Bill Murray movie Meatballs. Kobe is talking to a bunch of teens when one asks Kobe about the dunks on  James. Rather than leaving it alone Kobe played Comedian to amuse a bunch of teens. And in the process of doing that in New York Vinnie’s eyes he made himself smaller by doing that.

The mature thing to do was not to comment on the event not to play the fool in front of a bunch of teens. Is Kobe’s ego that fragile that he had to pile on James? What good did he possibly expect to come of his comments? Does he forget about his old teammate Shaquille O’Neal and the “Free-Style Rap“  that the Diesel used to show him disrespect? 

Just about a week or ten days ago New York Vinnie was having a discussion with a friend about Kobe Bryant. Vinnie stated that he thought that Kobe had shown a lot of maturity ever since he took part in the 2008 Beijing Olympics. New York Vinnie also stated that he had gained quite a bit of respect for Kobe since then. That respect is no longer there.

Kobe Bryant could have done the right thing but instead he took the cheap shot the easy laugh. He also showed New York Vinnie that the nick-name he has chosen the Black Mamba fits him like a glove. Because in New York Vinnie’s eyes Kobe is nothing but a Frickin Snake!